The Alaçatı Saturday market sets up at the entrance of the town every Saturday, all year: Aegean herbs, fruit and vegetables, cheese, flowers, clothes; when, where and how to enjoy it.
When is the Alaçatı market? On Saturdays. According to Çeşme municipality it sets up every week at the entrance of Alaçatı, and it has been there since 1994, summer and winter alike. GoTürkiye says it is open from morning until evening; the hours can vary with the season. It is a walk from us, and most of what goes into our breakfast we buy here, from local growers. For us it is the loveliest errand of the week.
Spring is the season of herbs. The stalls turn green with wild Aegean greens: radika (wild chicory), stinging nettle, blessed thistle, sea beans, poppy shoots, wild asparagus, and fresh artichokes in season. Ask how to cook them; the stallholders are glad to explain. The food writer Mehmet Yaşin called it the most colourful, most delicious market in Turkey.
The stallholders come from the villages around Alaçatı and nearby districts, and the villagers bring fruit, vegetables and herbs from their own gardens. Summer and autumn are the months of plenty for fruit and vegetables, with Çeşme melons in summer. Alongside them: eggs, bread, village cheeses, olives, honey, tarhana, erişte (home-made noodles), jams and spices; seedlings, flowers and things for the garden. A 2015 report counted about 200 stalls in summer and around 100 in winter; what you find changes with the season.
The other half of the market is clothing and the household: fabrics, curtain material, shoes, kitchenware, and in summer swimwear, towels and sandals. People come to shop from all over the Çeşme peninsula, even from the Greek island of Chios, and on Saturdays it gets busy.
Go early: GoTürkiye suggests the early morning to avoid the crowds and the heat, and the freshest herbs sell out first. Bring a bag or a basket, and cash. The municipality says you reach it by dolmuş (shared minibus) or by car; from us, you simply walk. And it is not the peninsula's only market: almost every day another village or quarter has its own, listed below.
Places
Photo: Bir_Ege_Hikayesi, CC BY 3.0 (cropped), Wikimedia CommonsAlaçatı Pazarı · Saturday, at the entrance of Alaçatı, all year. Photo: this market, May 2010. Open in Maps ↗
Ildırı Pazarı · Monday. Jams, tarhana, olive oil, seasonal fruit and vegetables; about 17 km from Çeşme. Open in Maps ↗
Dalyan Pazarı · Tuesday. A tiny, pretty village market: fruit, vegetables, charcuterie, textiles. Open in Maps ↗
Çeşme Pazarı · Wednesday and Sunday, in central Çeşme: fruit, vegetables, inexpensive clothing, home-made food from local producers. Open in Maps ↗
Ilıca Pazarı · Thursday. Fruit, vegetables and clothing; about 5.4 km from Alaçatı. Open in Maps ↗
Ovacık Pazarı · Friday. A small market run only by the villagers; go in summer for the Ovacık melon. Open in Maps ↗
